First characterization of a novel grain calorimeter: the GRAiNITA prototype

A novel type of calorimeter based on grains of inorganic scintillating crystal readout by wave length shifting fibers is proposed. The concept and main features as well as the prototype design are introduced and the first results obtained using cosmic rays are presented. The number of photo -electrons generated by cosmic rays muons in the prototype detector is estimated to be of the order of 10000 photo -electrons per GeV, validating the concept of this next -generation shashlik calorimeter.